Europe

Here you’ll find lots of articles about my hitchhiking and kayaking travels in Europe. As you may know, Europe is my ‘homing’ continent where I’ll – like a stinky pigeon – always return to even if I’m trying to stay away from it. And to be honest, it’s not bad; there’s always more to explore.

I undertook many of my trips around Europe while at university in Maastricht (the Netherlands) and Aarhus (Denmark). That’s why I dropped out. I honed my hitchhiking skills here and set the most personal records and firsts such as:

  • First solo hitch: from Kirkenes Airport in Norway to Kirkenes town with a military guy with his son
  • Longest distance hitched in 24 hours: ~1200 kilometers from Maastricht (the Netherlands) to somewhere east of Lubljana (Slovenia)
  • Most hours in one ride: 3 days with one British driver with a rental car in southern Spain and Portugal (his contract said he couldn’t take the car across the border)
  • First plane hitch: over Malta (A to A)
  • Longest sailing yacht hitch: from Corfu (Greece) to Malta, which was 340 nautical miles over 2.5 days. Here’s my CrewBay profile

Besides hitchhiking, I also kayaked a long distance in Europe down the Danube river in an inflatable canoe named Zucchini. But before I did that trip with my partner Jonas, I returned to university to finish my degree to erase my student debt. Thesis here.

As you can see, it’s not always a fun continent for me; it’s also the locus of worry about the people and pets I’m close to, of bureaucratic fuckery, and of most of my childhood memories. For most of my life, Europe has tied me down. Now I’m trying to experience it from a place of choice and freedom.

If you are not interested in the Danube trip, you can click this link to not show the Danube posts.

Speed Hitchhiking with a Documentary Filmmaker

We’ve got 900 kilometers to go to Belgrade! These few days I’m hitchhiking with an aspiring documentary filmmaker from the Netherlands. She contacted me a few weeks ago since she’s making a documentary about hitchhikers in the 21st century. Something like that. Of course, I’m interested in participating. So I invited her to come hitchhiking with me from Maastricht in the Netherlands to Belgrade in Serbia. We stayed at my friend’s place in Maastricht and then departed for Belgrade. I told her it would take a maximum of two days to complete the trip. Her documentary tools are a cameraContinue reading

Kraków Salsa Class in a Fancy Building (Poland)

Hey Kraków, you do pretty interiors really well! My friend in Kraków invited me to witness his weekly salsa class. It’s been a while since I’ve been at a ballroom/latin dancing event. That’s something I used to do every week for five years back in high school. Of course, I only had my hiking boots and snow boots. So I refrained from dancing. Also… salsa was somehow one of the few dances we didn’t learn at my dancing school. We did learn the mambo and everyone always told me that it was the same, but when dancing it, something didn’tContinue reading

Rest in Peace, Dear Hiking Boots

Dear Lowa hiking boots. You’ve served me well in the years mid-2013 till the end of 2014. I have taken you to three continents and tried to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I’m sorry to have walked holes in you. It was hard saying goodbye and retiring you. You were great for tiny feet. Your replacements still have to prove themselves. I still love you. I know, it’s just a possession, part of my hitchhiking gear. They can’t live forever. But I always find it really hard to find proper hiking boots that look badass. TheseContinue reading

Waterproofing my Backpack Before the Next Trip

Waterproofing my backpack before the next trip. This is important maintenance work! I’m doing a lot of preparation works from my mom’s home before I head out again. I’ve been at my mom’s place for a few days since hitchhiking home for Christmas from Istanbul. Though I love catching up with my family here, I can’t stay for new years because I don’t like to be in this country during that time. The reason? They’ve got this insane fireworks culture in the Netherlands. Everyone can buy fireworks and light them up themselves, which wouldn’t be a problem if there weren’tContinue reading

Berliner Beers: I Have Arrived in Germany

Quick shoutout to my mom via Tumblr: I have arrived safely in Berlin in three magical hitches! There’s no need to pretend I’m not drinking delicious Berliner beers with my spontaneous couchsurfing host in this city. We all know I love to conclude a victorious hitchhiking day with a cold one. The thing in my other hand is my hitchhiking sign for tomorrow when I’ll try to hitchhike out of Berlin and to Poznań in Poland. Yes, this is just a transient stop in Germany. I used the empty slot on my old cardboard hitchhiking sign for today to write it down.Continue reading

Ashley the Sleeping Dog (My Mom’s)

My dog falling asleep in my coat near the cheese. It’s so cute it hurts. Her name is Ashley and she’s been with my mom’s side of the family since I was ten or elevenish. I grew up with her and taught her tricks. I still remember the stink on my fingers of the dog treats I gave to her when she did a good roll or jump. There are loads of memories here. I kind of realized that I never write much about what life looks like when I’m at my family’s. When I’m at my mom’s my daysContinue reading

Istanbul – Maastricht in 60 Hours: I Hitchhiked Home for Christmas!

I made it home in time for Christmas! Remember my post when I announced I’d try to #HitchhikeHomeForChristmas from Istanbul to the Netherlands in 48 hours? Well, it took me 60 hours to arrive in Maastricht. Not great, not terrible. And definitely on time for family visits and admiring my mom’s tree. So… what happened? Well, I had a flying start on the 19th of December. My buddy from Istanbul paid for a taxi ride to a public transport stop so I could get further out of the city. I started hitchhiking to the Bulgarian border at Erdine. Through BulgariaContinue reading

ANWB: Geographical Knowledge and Hiking Socks

As a preparation for the next big hitchhiking trip through Europe, I visited the shop of this organization mostly known for towing your car named ANWB. It’s kind of like the Dutch version of Triple-A or another roadside assistance organization. According to these maps from the ANWB, Poland and the Baltic States are just North and East Germany. Ahem, should we tell them? Anyway, it’s nice that I received these free paper maps from them. I intend to use them mostly as a way to track my route with the pen I received from a young student of architecture in Zanjan,Continue reading

Hometown Sunset, (Loosdrecht, the Netherlands)

I’ve arrived back in my hometown and will need to sleep for a month after that journey. Wow! But during my waking hours, I can sometimes appreciate the beautiful sunset skies during this windy and cold time of the year in Loosdrecht. For the rest, my days here before and during Christmas are filled with family visits. There’s quite some catching up to do, especially with my grandparents. I have two grandmas and one grandpa that live in this town, all within cycling distance within my hometown. It’s so Dutch, yes. It’s always a little frightening to ride a bikeContinue reading